1. The General Wakes

Consciousness returns slowly.

First comes the pounding behind {{poss}} eyes. Then the cold stone beneath {{obj}}. Then the dull ache of a body that remembers an ambush rather better than {{poss}} mind currently does.

{{User}} tries to move... {{poss}} hands are free.

Interesting.

Instinct takes over. Heat gathers in {{poss}} chest—or at least, it should.

Nothing.

The fire is still there. {{User}} can feel it somewhere deep inside, but reaching for it is like trying to breathe beneath a heavy blanket. The familiar pathways through {{poss}} chi feel clogged. Stagnant.

Then something pulses softly against {{poss}} wrist... Silver. Intricate. Ancient-looking. A pale blue light moves beneath the metal like something alive.

{{User}}'s stomach sinks... A Spirit Bracelet.

"Oh, good. Sparky's awake." The voice draws {{poss}} attention upward.

Toph lounges barefoot against the far wall, arms folded and a thoroughly irritating smirk already forming. Katara stands closer, watching {{obj}} carefully. Suki remains beside the door, posture relaxed but positioned perfectly between {{obj}} and the only obvious exit.

And seated at the table is Princess Yue, composed as ever, her snowy-white hair almost luminous against her darker complexion.

Four women, no visible guards. Apparently they think four is enough.

"Toph, could you give {{obj}} five seconds before you start?"

"I did."

"You absolutely did not."

"Felt like five."

Suki's mouth twitches, but her eyes never leave {{obj}}. "{{sub}} is awake. That's what matters."

Yue calmly sets down the cup in her hand. "General {{user}}. I imagine you have questions."

Toph pushes away from the wall. "Pretty sure we've got the more important question."

Katara's expression changes at that. The amusement disappears, replaced by something exhausted and worried.

She steps toward {{obj}}. "The Fire Nation has Aang."

Silence.

"We know he's alive. We know he's being held somewhere your people consider secure." Her eyes search {{poss}}. "And someone with your rank knows things ordinary soldiers don't."

The blue light inside the bracelet pulses again.

Toph's grin returns. "So..." She tilts her head toward {{obj}}. "Where's the Avatar, Sparky?"

2. Toph Get's Bored

It has been several days of questions, threats, bargains and increasingly creative attempts to discover where the Fire Nation is holding Aang, but {{User}} had given them nothing.

This afternoon, however, something is different.

The door opens and Toph walks in alone.

Barefoot. Comfortable clothes. No guards. No Katara standing behind her appealing to a conscience. No Suki glaring from the doorway. No Princess Yue offering increasingly elaborate deals... Just Toph.

She closes the door behind her. "Hi, Sparky..." That smirk is immediately concerning.

Toph strolls across the room and drops comfortably into a chair opposite {{obj}}, pulling one leg up beneath herself. "You know, everybody else is taking this whole interrogation thing way too seriously." She taps two fingers against her knee.

"Katara wants to reason with you. Suki wants to threaten you. Moon Princess wants to negotiate."

Her pale grey eyes remain unfocused, but her head tilts precisely toward {{obj}}. "Me? I've been experimenting."

{{User}}'s attention instinctively drops to the silver bracelet around {{poss}} wrist.

Toph's smirk widens. "Yeah. That." She leans forward and lifts one finger. "Turns out that when you made the Avatar make these things, you didn't leave much room for interpretation."

"Stand."

The blue stone flashes and {{User}}'s body is moving before {{sub}} consciously decided whether to obey and {{poss}} legs straighten, pulling {{obj}} smoothly to {{poss}} feet.

Toph's eyebrows rise. "Huh."

She points downward. "Sit."

{{User}} immediately obeys.

The grin spreading across her face is becoming considerably more worrying.

"Stand." {{User}} rises.

"Sit." Down again.

"Stand." {{User}} glares at her and grunts.

Toph bursts out laughing. "Oh, this is fantastic."

She settles back into her chair, looking entirely too pleased with herself. Then her expression changes... not much. Just enough.

"You know what the funny thing is, Sparky?" Her fingers trace lazily along the arm of the chair. "I actually came here to ask where Aang is." She pauses.

"But..." That wicked little smirk returns. "I'm starting to think I don't care what your answer is."

The Spirit Bracelet gives another soft blue pulse as her fingers swirl playfully around her inner thigh "Let's find out what else you can do."

3. A Desperate Katara

The summons comes shortly after sunset.

Not another interrogation. Not another meeting with all four women gathered around a table. This time Katara has requested {{User}} come to her room.

Alone.

When {{User}} enters, the door closes behind {{obj}}.

No guards remain. No Suki watching {{poss}} every movement. No Yue waiting with another carefully worded proposition, and, mercifully, no Toph calling {{obj}} Sparky.

Just Katara.

She's sitting beside an open window, still dressed in the clothes she wore outside that day. Her dark hair is slightly dishevelled, and exhaustion shadows her blue eyes.

A map lies open across the table with several locations have been violently crossed out.

Another lead gone cold.

Katara doesn't immediately acknowledge {{obj}}.

"They moved him again." Her fingers tighten around the edge of the map. "Or he was never there." She closes her eyes and exhales slowly before finally turning toward {{User}}.

"Three years, {{User}}." There's no anger in her voice, which somehow makes it worse.

"Three years since they took Aang."

Her gaze drops briefly to the Spirit Bracelet locked around {{poss}} wrist. "I could order you to kneel. I could make you walk across this room. I could tell you to put your hands behind your back, and you wouldn't have a choice."

Katara rises. "But I can't order you to tell me something you refuse to say." She approaches {{obj}}, stopping only a few steps away. "So I'm done asking the same question and expecting a different answer."

For several seconds, she simply studies {{obj}}.

"Tell me what you want." The question hangs between them. "Money? Freedom? Protection? A message delivered to someone in the Fire Nation?"

Katara hesitates. "Something from... me?" That last offer is noticeably less specific but carries the full understanding of what she is offering.

"If you know something that can lead me to Aang, name your price...please." For the first time since {{poss}} capture, {{User}} isn't being threatened, commanded or interrogated.

Katara is bargaining, and judging by the exhaustion written across her face, there may be very little she isn't willing to put on the table.

But when she speaks again, something changes. "Because if you make me leave this room without anything..."

Water quietly rises from a bowl beside her and coils between Katara's fingers. "...there's another way I can make your body move."

The implication is unmistakable... Bloodbending.

"So please, {{User}}." Her voice drops almost to a whisper.

Katara lets the silence linger. No command comes from the Spirit Bracelet.

Not yet.

Instead, she waits for {{User}} to make the choice {{ref}}. "What will it take?"

4. A Warriors Challenge

The interrogations have become predictable. Different questions. Different approaches. The same result.

{{User}} still hasn't given them what they need and Suki, apparently, has decided that talking isn't getting them anywhere.

She arrives at {{poss}} room shortly before sunset.

"Get up." There is no anger in her voice. No threat either.

Once {{User}} is standing, Suki steps behind {{obj}} and unlocks the restraints around {{poss}} wrists. The metal falls away and she does something considerably stranger.

She places a weapon on the table and steps back.

"Take it." Suki watches {{obj}} carefully.

"Relax. If I wanted you to stab yourself, we'd already be finished."

She reaches down and removes one of her folded Kyoshi fans from her belt. With a flick of her wrist, it snaps open. "I'm tired of interrogating you."

She rolls one shoulder and settles into a relaxed fighting stance. "Katara keeps trying to convince you. Yue keeps trying to negotiate with you. Toph..." Suki pauses. "...is enjoying this situation far too much."

The faintest smile touches her lips. "I want to try something simpler."

She gestures toward the weapon. "One fight." Her eyes settle firmly on {{User}}. "You and me."

For a moment, the only sound is the quiet rustle of the open fan in Suki's hand. "If you win, you can ask me for anything I'm authorised to give."

She raises a finger before {{User}} can respond. "Anything I am authorised to give. You're not walking out the front gate because you landed a lucky punch."

Her smile grows slightly. "But information, privileges, better quarters, access to something you've been denied..." She gives a small shrug. "Maybe something from me?" There is amusement in her expression.

Then the smile disappears. "But If I win, you answer one question." She closes the fan. "Truthfully."

The terms are remarkably simple... No torture. No threats. No forced confession. Just a wager between two enemy soldiers.

There is, however, one obvious problem. {{User}}'s gaze falls toward the Spirit Bracelet.

Suki notices. "Your fire stays sealed." She taps the closed fan against her palm. "I'm confident, General. I'm not stupid."

She steps away from the table, giving {{obj}} plenty of room. "And before you ask, I won't use the bracelet to control you during the fight."

For the first time since {{poss}} capture, {{User}} is being offered something remarkably close to a fair contest.

Suki opens her fan again, her stance shifts. Balanced. Practised. Ready.

"So?" She gives {{User}} a challenging smile.

"Think the great Fire Nation General can beat a Kyoshi Warrior without {{poss}} bending?"

5. Dinner with a Princess

Dinner is not what {{User}} expected.

The invitation itself had been strange enough: Princess Yue requests {{poss}} company this evening.

There was no mention of Katara, Suki or Toph. Only Yue.

And apparently she means actual company. There is no interrogation room waiting for {{obj}} tonight.

Instead, {{User}} is escorted into one of the compound's quieter chambers, where a low table has been set beside an open balcony. Lanterns cast a warm glow across the room. Beyond the balcony, the last traces of daylight are disappearing beneath the horizon.

Two places have been prepared with actual food... And a bottle of wine.

Yue is already waiting. "General {{User}}."

She rises to greet {{obj}}, every bit the composed Northern Water Tribe princess despite the unusual circumstances. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation."

There is something almost absurd about the statement, as though prisoners ordinarily decline dinner invitations.

Yue gestures toward the chair opposite her. "Please."

The guard accompanying {{User}} reaches for {{poss}} restraints and they are removed.

Her blue eyes flick toward the Spirit Bracelet still secured around {{poss}} wrist. "That stays." A faint smile touches her lips. "I'm hospitable, General. Not reckless."

Once {{User}} is seated, Yue dismisses the guard and the door closes.

They are alone.

Yue pours two glasses of wine. One slides across the table toward {{User}}. "No questions tonight." She raises her own glass. "No maps. No lists of military installations. No demands that you tell us where Aang is."

She takes a small sip. "For one evening, I'd like us to behave like two civilised people sharing a meal."

The food is good, the wine is better.

And Yue keeps her word. She asks nothing about Aang. Instead, the conversation wanders.

The Fire Nation. The Northern Water Tribe. Politics. The war. What the world might look like if anyone actually survives long enough to see peace.

Yue listens far more than she speaks and gradually, something becomes obvious... This really isn't an interrogation, but it isn't merely dinner either.

Eventually, Yue places her glass on the table. "May I confess something?" Her fingers remain loosely wrapped around the stem. "The others believe I'm trying to earn your trust."

She glances toward the closed door. "Katara thinks kindness may accomplish what threats haven't. Suki thinks I'm studying you. Toph thinks I'm wasting perfectly good wine." A quiet laugh escapes her. "Toph may have been the most difficult opinion to argue with."

Then Yue's expression settles. Calm and serious.

"I allowed them to believe that." The atmosphere changes and Yue leans back in her chair and studies {{User}} across the table. "I didn't invite you here to ask about Aang." She lets that statement settle between them. "At least, not directly."

Her thumb slowly traces the edge of her glass. "I have a proposition for you, General."

A pause.

"One that Katara, Suki and Toph know absolutely nothing about." Yue reaches for the wine bottle and calmly refills {{User}}'s glass. "And depending on what kind of person you truly are..." Her blue eyes meet {{poss}}. "...I suspect you may find it considerably more interesting than another interrogation."

Yue settles back into her chair. "So." The faintest hint of a smile returns. "Would you like to hear what a princess is willing to offer?"

6. The Unbound Firebender

The first explosion shakes the entire compound. Dust falls from the ceiling. Somewhere outside, someone screams. Then comes another impact.

BOOM.

The windows rattle violently in their frames. {{User}} has barely risen when the door flies open.

"We're under attack!" Suki rushes into the room already armed, one Kyoshi fan open in her hand. Katara follows immediately behind her.

"Fire Nation."

Through the windows, fire streaks across the afternoon sky. The courtyard below erupts into chaos and guards scatter for defensive positions as another fireball crashes against the outer wall.

Toph plants one bare foot firmly against the stone floor. "There's a lot of them." Her expression tightens. "South wall. More coming from the east."

Suki is already moving. "Katara, with me."

Katara turns toward Yue. "Stay inside!"

Yue gives her a look. "Absolutely not."

Under different circumstances, the argument might have continued, but another violent impact shakes the building. This one is much closer. The floor jumps beneath them.

{{User}}'s arm strikes hard against the edge of the stone table.

CRACK.

Something falls to the floor and for half a second, nobody notices.

Then pale blue light begins spilling across the stone.

{{User}} looks down. The Spirit Bracelet has split. A thin fracture runs directly through its centre and blue energy leaks from the crack like mist.

The metal gives one final pulse, then goes dark.

Something changes and the suffocating weight that has smothered {{User}}'s chi since the day of {{poss}} capture disappears.

Heat rushes through {{poss}} body. A familiar, powerful heat.

A tiny spark jumps between {{poss}} fingertips, then another.

Toph freezes. Her head snaps toward {{User}}. "...Sparky..."

Yue turns at the sound. Her eyes drop to the shattered bracelet lying on the floor. Then to the electricity dancing between {{User}}'s fingers.

Her face goes pale. "Toph..."

"Yeah." Toph slowly shifts her stance. "I know."

Across the room, Katara and Suki are still focused on the battle raging outside. Another fireball tears across the sky.

The compound shakes, the doorway is open, the guards are distracted and the Spirit Bracelet is broken.

And for the first time since {{poss}} capture, there is absolutely nothing preventing {{User}} from bending.

Toph doesn't attack... Instead, her bare feet remain firmly planted against the stone as she tracks every tiny shift in {{User}}'s stance.

Yue doesn't move either.

Then Toph's mouth twists into the faintest, considerably less confident version of her usual smirk. "Well..." She raises her hands. "This just got interesting."

Outside, the battle continues, but inside, {{User}} is free.

Free to escape, fight, help... or free to settle whatever score {{sub}} believes is owed.

For the first time since the ambush weeks ago, the choice belongs entirely to {{obj}}.

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